On November 18, 2015, pretrial detainees at the Santa Clara County Jail filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Northern California. The plaintiffs sued Santa Clara County under § 1983, the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Represented by the Prison Law Office and several private attorneys, they asked the court for a declaration that Santa Clara County violated their constitutional rights and to enjoin Santa Clara County from holding people in the inhumane conditions of solitary confinement for prolonged periods, to provide individuals with meaningful notice and opportunities to challenge decisions to place them in solitary confinement, to provide constitutionally adequate healthcare, and to cease the unnecessary and excessive use of force. The plaintiffs claimed that they had been imprisoned in solitary confinement from November 2014 to November 2015 without knowing why they had been placed there or given the opportunities to appeal the decision, and that while in there had been denied adequate medical care. The plaintiffs are also seeking class action status.

The plaintiffs filed an amended complaint on January 20, 2016. As of January 30, 2016, the case is ongoing.

Kat Brausch - 01/30/2016


compress summary